Sometime over the last week, I have become convinced of the fact that the society I know and live in is not going to make it.
I cannot point to any one event, but I can point to a series of events - or perhaps, rather trends:
- A continued fatal misunderstanding of the nature of an economy in terms of how much money we are simply throwing at problems without any consideration of how that money will be paid for in the future.
- A continued and consistent slow rending of the underpinnings of our political system and how it operates: (Note to both sides: if you are using legerdemain and prestidigitation to accomplish your policy goals instead of building consensus, you are operating like a dictatorship with a little more finesse).
- A pretty wide and long ranging collapse of anything like a coherent foreign policy ( Starting out by calling the leader of a sovereign nation a "killer" or starting out your first meeting with your biggest trading partner with a lecture and putting individuals of their government under interdict is no way to start a relationship.)
- A continued growth and expectation that the government should do more and the individual less.
- A continued and growing sense of disunity virtually everywhere I look. The only unity promoted anywhere is the unity that is to be brought by completely subsuming one's own views to the other side.
Before you think I have completely gone off the rails (Ed, I know you may be thinking this), I ask a simple question: Name me one politician or political party that you believe is able AND capable to doing the following:
- Managing the economy in a way that does not rapidly and completely indebt future generation while encouraging growth and self reliance;
- Respects working within the political policies and structures as they exist (a bonus: reducing the size and scope of government);
- Manages foreign policy in a way that is respected but not aggressive;
- Build unity, not division, somehow managing to get the majority of folks to a vision and goal
If you are scratching your head trying to think of such a person or party, welcome to my world.
Am I sounding more Libertarian than anything in this? Perhaps - but the Libertarian party has its own issues (largely the fact that they have no actual governing experience to point to. An experiment - and a fun one - but not a practical one).
And so, the semi-recurring series of We Are Done.
By "Done", I do not mean something as significant as World War (although possible) or (if you are a Christian) the Rapture or (for my Nordic friends) Ragnarok. I simply mean the US, as we have known it as a functioning entity for 245 years, is over.
Maybe it comes out different and stronger. Maybe. But I do not believe it to be so.
I'll second your motion of "We Are Done". Almost every conversation with people I know and I don't know, gets to "what the heck is going on?" eventually.
ReplyDeleteSome one called me a Republican the other day. And without thought I said, "If Mit Romney is a Republican, I'm not one." I don't really know what I am now. I like the principles that our country was founded on, and I just want to be left alone to live my life.
Sympathetically, I've noted a lot of American flags have gone missing around here, and Texas flags are flying all over in their place. Subtle, but noticeable.
STxAR - I no longer have an ideological home anymore either, except perhaps the concepts on which the Constitution is based - and yes, I just want to be left alone to live my life, without incessant oversight and without the potential judgement of each and every action and thought.
DeleteThat is an interesting flag observation. I will pay more attention.
The crime thinkers and heretics that I run with would agree. And don’t worry; you don’t sound like a holy roller foaming about the end times, or a smug libertarian. You sound to my ear like a Heritage American. Canada is in the same boat. You can’t run a country like this, much less a business.
ReplyDeleteI used to run my mouth in anger at the stupid laws and rules our leaders came out with but now I just don’t care anymore. We prep and save like mad. I am now a felon, I suppose, because my govt has passed laws I simply won’t comply with. Some are so bad, our police forces and even the judiciary are made queasy and they refuse to enforce them.
The purges will have to come soon as a result. It’s happening in the US right now. If you don’t feel the right way about women, trannies or homosexuals in the military, you are a bigot and will need to be discharged. What happens when you are a cop being told to make war on citizens that are losing their jobs and businesses during the endless COVID lock downs? What happens when those stupid christians insist on going to church, or the elderly lady can’t handle wearing three masks? They will need to be replaced by true believers and other zealots.
We are not imagining any of this. They are going there. And unfortunately we are going with them, like it or not.
Glen, just by making simple preparations, I am a "hoarder" and thus anti-society.
DeleteAgreed that the visible politicization of the US Military is concerning. Having a military dedicated to something besides the Founding Document is the move of dictators and tyrants.
By saying this, I am probably now a "crime thinker and heretic". Welcome to the Revolution, I guess.
Right now, I don't see it being stronger, either. Other than perhaps the government control over people.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting thought Linda - although the more the government tries to control things, the more it encourages people to do what they can to escape the system. Certainly has with me, anyway.
DeleteWhen we fail to share any common genetic or cultural heritage, there is not a country left. The United States was once a functioning society, but it is no longer that, and the cultural and genetic differences are mountains that can never be climbed. There are several choices, but reconciliation seems to be impossible.
ReplyDeleteOne of my standing arguments Just So, is that a nation is a group of people unified by a language, culture, and founding story or history. We are rapidly burning all of these to ground. And once something is burned, something else will rise from the ashes, but not the original thing.
DeleteYou are right that I can't name a party, but I suspect if one were to look back throughout our history, there has never been a party that meets all of those qualifications.
ReplyDeleteWhat does happen and what I can do is name a lot of local folks who are decent folks who believe in all those things. I think those folks at a grass roots level are kind of a sea anchor that keeps our nation pointed forward even though not exactly in the right direction. We influence both parties to do some of those things and thus even out our keel.
I look back throughout history and if one narrows things down to a particular area of time, one sees a lot of political teeter tottering like we do now but if I look back on a wider scale, I think our legislation has followed a pleasing path. I think perhaps you are focused on the here and now and need to widen out your view to include how far we have come as a nation and perhaps that will allow you to be more opportunistic about our future.
Ed, perhaps. On the other hand, being a student of history I can see where such things as the silencing of voices on the media, politicization of government institutions, the acceptance of violence in the name of protest and "righting wrongs", and a growing government control over citizens leads. And it leads no where that any sane person in this country should want to go.
DeleteYou'll get no argument from me. I am spending my time praying, filling gaps in supplies, and generally trying to brace for whatever is coming. I do not think the seas ahead are calm.
ReplyDeleteSBRgirl - This is where I am at as well. In no scenario I have internally run is there a return to some kind of "normal" equilibrium.
DeleteLots to digest here and I agree on several levels. I think what has greatly harmed us is the inability to have a civil discussion. The extremes are allowed to control the narrative, while the voice of the reasoned is drowned out. It's only when we listen that we learn and, perhaps, find some (reasonable) common ground. Maybe not exactly what you are getting at here, but I believe our Founding Fathers expected compromise. They were all ABOUT compromise themselves. To use a cliché, they disagreed w/out being disagreeable. If there's any hope of NOT being "done," we have to return to an environment where that is possible.
ReplyDeleteClicking around from other folks' blogs can bring up some interesting reading. I've enjoyed looking through yours. No political party is perfect, but I sure wish the Libertarian Party could gain wider acceptance and become a viable alternative.
ReplyDelete